Kolkata: Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly today said Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was the best captain the country ever had.

"He batted without a helmet and an eye. For me, he was the best captain ever," Ganguly said at a memorial lecture here.

He said that not many players had that quality of character or class that makes them live forever in the hearts of Indians and even foreigners.

In modern-day cricket, players carry 10-11 bats in their kit but Pataudi didn't carry a single 'blade'.

"When you pick someone else's bat you must be a really confident man," Ganguly said while adding that despite not having an eye his hand-eye coordination was great and he had a good average of 35 in Test matches.

Pataudi had once told Ganguly to pick up a team that is going to win without considering other factors like which place is the player from.

"I remembered it till the six years of my captaincy," he said adding that his main aim was to change the cricket of India.

Ganguly said he always tried to identify talent and allowed it to flourish without picking or dropping anyone only on the basis of his performance in the last 4-5 games.

Recalling his own days, Ganguly said when he was young playing in county cricket was the in-thing that time just like what IPL is today.

"It was a massive recognition on how good you are as a player," he said.